Things to do · Melbourne · Australia
18 best things to do in Melbourne
18 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
The essential sights in Melbourne are Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways and National Gallery of Victoria. Of the 18 picks below, 12 are free, 7 work on a rainy day and 7 suit children. Allow about 5 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Federation Square and Flinders Street Station
- Free sights
- 12
- Good on a rainy day
- Federation Square and Flinders Street Station
- Time to see the highlights
- 5 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federation Square and Flinders Street Station | Melbourne CBD | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways | Melbourne CBD | 2–3 hours | Free |
| National Gallery of Victoria | Southbank | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground | Richmond | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Queen Victoria Market | Melbourne CBD | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Royal Botanic Gardens | South Yarra | 1–3 hours | Free |
| Shrine of Remembrance | Kings Domain | 1 hour | Free |
| Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building | Carlton | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| St Kilda foreshore and pier | St Kilda | 2–3 hours | Free |
| ACMI | Federation Square | 1.5–2 hours | Free |
| State Library Victoria | Melbourne CBD | 1 hour | Free |
| Melbourne Skydeck | Southbank | 1 hour | Mid-priced |
| SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium | Melbourne CBD | 1.5–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Melbourne Zoo | Parkville | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| Brunswick Street and Fitzroy | Fitzroy | Half a day | Free |
| Old Melbourne Gaol | Melbourne CBD | 1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Chinatown | Melbourne CBD | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Abbotsford Convent | Abbotsford | 2 hours | Free |
The 18 best things to do
Landmark · Melbourne CBD
1.Federation Square and Flinders Street Station
Opposite the domed 1910 entrance of Flinders Street Station, Federation Square is the city's main public meeting place. Its angular sandstone and glass buildings house ACMI and the Ian Potter Centre, where NGV Australia shows Australian art for free. Big screens show major sporting events, and the station steps under the clocks are the traditional place to meet.
Meet 'under the clocks' at Flinders Street Station like locals do, then cross to the Ian Potter Centre for the free Australian art collection.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Architecture
- Art
- Rainy day
Street · Melbourne CBD
2.Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways
The CBD's lanes and arcades are Melbourne's signature. Hosier Lane and AC/DC Lane are covered in constantly changing street art, Degraves Street and Centre Place are packed with espresso bars, and the Victorian-era Block Arcade and Royal Arcade have mosaic floors and glass roofs.
Go beyond Hosier Lane: Croft Alley off Little Bourke Street and the lanes around Flinders Lane have equally good art and far fewer people.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Food
- Photo spot
- Iconic
Gallery · Southbank
3.National Gallery of Victoria
Founded in 1861, the NGV is Australia's oldest public art museum. Its building on St Kilda Road, entered through a famous water wall, holds European old masters, Asian art, fashion and design, and the permanent collection is free. Major ticketed exhibitions run through the year.
Lie on the carpet in the Great Hall, as locals do, to take in Leonard French's huge stained-glass ceiling.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Book ahead
- Major exhibitions use timed tickets that can sell out at weekends; the free collection needs no booking.
- Free
- Art
- Rainy day
- Iconic
- Architecture
Landmark · Richmond
4.Melbourne Cricket Ground
The MCG holds about 100,000 people and hosts AFL football through the winter, the AFL Grand Final in September and the Boxing Day Test match in summer. On non-event days, guided tours visit the dressing rooms and the members' pavilion, and the Australian Sports Museum is inside the stadium.
If you are in town between March and September, go to an AFL game: the crowd teaches you more about Melbourne than any tour.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- History
- After dark
Market · Melbourne CBD
5.Queen Victoria Market
Trading since 1878, the Queen Victoria Market covers several city blocks of produce sheds, a deli hall of cheese, meat and smallgoods, and general merchandise stalls. It is the place to try hot jam doughnuts from the van that has sold them since the 1950s and to stock up for a picnic.
Go in the morning for the best produce, and check the market calendar first: it does not trade every day, and night markets run on selected evenings.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Shopping
- Free
- History
Garden · South Yarra
6.Royal Botanic Gardens
Thirty-eight hectares of lawns, lakes and plant collections stretch along the Yarra south of the CBD, with a fern gully, an arid garden and Guilfoyle's Volcano, a restored reservoir planted with succulents. The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden has water play and tunnels for younger kids. Entry is free.
Walk part of the Tan, the 3.8 km running track around the edge of the gardens, or join locals picnicking by the Ornamental Lake.
- Time needed
- 1–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Nature
- Couples
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Historic site · Kings Domain
7.Shrine of Remembrance
Melbourne's war memorial, completed in 1934, is modelled on ancient Greek and Roman monuments. A shaft of light falls on the Stone of Remembrance at 11am on Remembrance Day, a moment recreated with mirrors at regular intervals for visitors, and galleries below tell the stories of Australians at war. Entry is free.
Climb to the upper balconies for the view straight up St Kilda Road and Swanston Street to the CBD skyline.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Views
- Architecture
Museum · Carlton
8.Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building
In the Carlton Gardens, the Melbourne Museum covers natural history, First Peoples culture and the city's own story, with a living forest gallery, dinosaur skeletons and Phar Lap, the champion racehorse. Across the forecourt, the 1880 Royal Exhibition Building is one of the few surviving 19th-century great exhibition halls and is UNESCO World Heritage-listed.
Check the museum's site for guided tours of the Royal Exhibition Building's interior, which is otherwise mainly used for events.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
- Architecture
- Nature
Waterfront · St Kilda
1.St Kilda foreshore and pier
St Kilda's palm-lined Esplanade and beach look across Port Phillip Bay, and the pier leads out to a breakwater where a colony of little penguins nests among the rocks. The giant face at the entrance of Luna Park, open since 1912, and the cake shops of Acland Street are a short walk away.
Arrive around dusk to see the little penguins return to the breakwater; keep your voice down and never use a camera flash.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- After dark
- Couples
- Nature
Museum · Federation Square
2.ACMI
ACMI at Federation Square is Australia's museum of film, television, video games and digital culture. Its free permanent exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image, mixes film history with hands-on displays and playable games, and its cinemas screen new releases and retrospectives.
Pick up a free Lens at the entrance to bookmark exhibits as you go, then look them up online later.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Art
Architecture · Melbourne CBD
3.State Library Victoria
Opened in 1856, the State Library is best known for the La Trobe Reading Room, an octagonal domed hall ringed by tiers of galleries. Free exhibitions include Ned Kelly's armour, and the front lawn on Swanston Street is a popular lunch spot.
Take the lift to the top gallery level for the classic view down into the domed reading room.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Architecture
- History
- Rainy day
- Photo spot
Viewpoint · Southbank
4.Melbourne Skydeck
The observation deck on the 88th floor of Eureka Tower gives 360-degree views over the CBD, Port Phillip Bay and, on a clear day, the Dandenong Ranges. The Edge, a glass cube that slides out from the building, is an optional extra.
Arrive about an hour before sunset to see the city in daylight and again as the lights come on.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Views
- After dark
- Couples
Aquarium · Melbourne CBD
5.SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium
On the north bank of the Yarra at the corner of Flinders and King Streets, the aquarium has king and gentoo penguins in a sub-Antarctic zone, a large oceanarium with sharks and rays, and tunnels and touch pools for children.
Visit on a weekday morning outside school holidays to watch the penguins without a crowd at the glass.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
Zoo · Parkville
6.Melbourne Zoo
Opened in 1862, Melbourne Zoo is Australia's oldest zoo, set in mature gardens in Parkville about 4 km north of the CBD. Its Australian bush area has kangaroos, koalas, wombats and platypuses, alongside gorillas, orangutans, big cats and a butterfly house.
Children usually enter free at weekends, on public holidays and during Victorian school holidays; tram 58 from the CBD stops near the entrance.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Neighbourhood · Fitzroy
7.Brunswick Street and Fitzroy
Brunswick Street and Gertrude Street are lined with vintage shops, record stores, street art, cafés and pubs, and the side lanes are some of the best places in Melbourne to see murals away from the CBD crowds. The Rose Street Artists' Market sells local design at weekends.
Walk from Gertrude Street up Brunswick Street, then cut across to Smith Street in Collingwood for dinner.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Shopping
- Art
- Food
- After dark
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Historic site · Melbourne CBD
8.Old Melbourne Gaol
This bluestone prison on Russell Street dates from the 1840s, and the bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged here in 1880. You can walk the tiers of cells, see death masks of executed prisoners and take part in a mock arrest in the neighbouring City Watch House.
Allow time for the City Watch House next door, where a guide plays out an arrest and lock-up in the original cells.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Rainy day
Street · Melbourne CBD
9.Chinatown
Dating from the 1850s gold rush, Melbourne's Chinatown along Little Bourke Street is one of the oldest continuous Chinese settlements in the Western world. Red archways frame a strip of dumpling houses, noodle bars and dessert shops, and the Chinese Museum in Cohen Place tells the story of Chinese migration to Australia.
Come hungry in the evening, when the lanes off Little Bourke Street fill with diners and neon.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- History
- After dark
- Free
Historic site · Abbotsford
10.Abbotsford Convent
A former convent complex on a bend of the Yarra, now an arts precinct with studios, galleries, cafés and gardens. Entry to the grounds is free, markets and events are held regularly, and the Collingwood Children's Farm is right next door.
Combine it with the Collingwood Children's Farm next door, where children can meet farm animals beside the river.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Off the beaten path
- Free
- Art
- Kids
- Outdoors
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways, National Gallery of Victoria and Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building |
| History | Queen Victoria Market, Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Views | Shrine of Remembrance and Melbourne Skydeck |
| Outdoors and nature | Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building, St Kilda foreshore and pier and SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium |
| Food and markets | Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways, Queen Victoria Market, Brunswick Street and Fitzroy and Chinatown |
| After dark | Melbourne Cricket Ground, St Kilda foreshore and pier, Melbourne Skydeck and Brunswick Street and Fitzroy |
| With children | Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building, St Kilda foreshore and pier and ACMI |
| On a rainy day | Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building and ACMI |
What to book ahead
- National Gallery of Victoria: Major exhibitions use timed tickets that can sell out at weekends; the free collection needs no booking.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Melbourne?
Federation Square and Flinders Street Station. Opposite the domed 1910 entrance of Flinders Street Station, Federation Square is the city's main public meeting place.
+What can you do for free in Melbourne?
Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, Hosier Lane and the CBD laneways, National Gallery of Victoria, Queen Victoria Market and Royal Botanic Gardens. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Melbourne when it rains?
Head indoors to Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building and ACMI.
+What is there to do in Melbourne at night?
Melbourne Cricket Ground, St Kilda foreshore and pier, Melbourne Skydeck and Brunswick Street and Fitzroy are best after dark.